Hello,
I am finishing up my BS in Aeronautics and have been looking into ATP to become a commercial pilot. I am still debating since it is very expensive and I have to look for options to pay for it on my own. I wonder if it is a good school that will lead me to the career i always dreamed of? I am little nervous about the intense schedule that ATP expects to maintain. I do have still a little language barrier, since I began learning English 5 years ago, and wonder if it will be a huge obstacle for me in the ATP program to finish on time? Thank you
John,
There are many fine flight schools but since I did my training with ATP and I give them credit for my success in the industry, obviously I’m a fan. As for whether it’s a good school to get you to the airlines, over 300 ATP grads were hired by airlines in the last year alone.
Now, people are often concerned about the pace and that’s understandable but you need to keep something in mind. ATP was created BY airline pilots to train airline pilots. The pace of the program is designed to prepare students for the pace they’re going to encounter when they get to an airline. This begs the question if someone doesn’t think they can handle the pace at ATP, what makes them think they’ll survive airline training? That btw is one of the reasons ATP grads get hired. The airlines know they can keep up because they’ve already demonstrated that ability.
Adam
John,
Aside from the language barrier, I had some of the same concerns as you
when I first started. I unltimately took out a loan. It made me nervous at
first. It was the first loan I had ever applied for and the size was
intimidating. As a graduate of the program and now at an airline, it’s
totally worth it.
The pace of the program was not as much of a concern for me. I knew it
would be hard, and I had to make a serious mental adjustment in the
beginning, but I always had confidence in completing the program. This is
something that I can’t figure out for you. You need to reflect on the
things that you have accomplished in the past. Did you finish a lot of the
projects you started? Did you ever run into adversity? How did you handle
it?
You’re not going to know if you are capable unless you try it. Mind you,
the program used to be 6 months. It is now 9. That’s all I have to say for
now. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Tory
Thank You Sir for your input, I appreciate it. I found your response to be very effective!
John
Adam,
Thank you for the great response, I appreciate it. I am a goal-oriented in all aspects, but like to think over and over again before making important decisions. I am looking forward to begin the training with ATP. Thank you
John